Risa's Astrology

Valentine’s Day in a Mercury Retro!
The unexpected three-hours-before-dawn tornadoes that swept across central Florida, devastating a large geographical area (and life), is one more example of the weather anomalies occurring world wide. The Red Cross, a Hierarchically-impressed organization, thus part of the New Group of World Servers, needs ongoing donations. Please give and then give again.

The Florida situation reminds us once again about preparedness. Some say if towns and communities aren’t in the active process of preparing now, it will soon be too late. Are the cities and towns we live in (Santa Cruz, etc.) prepared? Because Aquarius (sign, month, Age) is the sign of Knowledge, and we need knowledge to prepare adequately, an excellent preparedness book is Dare to Prepare, 2nd Edition by Holly Drennan Deyo (www.standeyo.com).

This is the week Mercury retrogrades (Tuesday night) followed by Valentines Day (Wednesday) – appropriately celebrated in the sign Aquarius. As Valentine’s Day is all about Love, the Soul ruler of Aquarius, Jupiter, Ray 2, is also about Love and its companion, Wisdom.

This year’s Valentine’s Day occurs during a Mercury retro (February 13, 9:38 pm, 10 degrees Pisces till March 7th). We forget things when Mercury is retro. It’s best not to forget Valentine’s Day. Appropriate gifts (chosen before Valentine’s Day) during a retrograde would be things from the past – reliving a memory, fulfilling a forgotten promise, seeking and offering something old, blue and definitely antique. Mercury retro is a time when our thinking is cloudy, our contacts incomplete and our reality so inward we act as if we’re in a daze (we are). Instead of offering gifts of chocolate we may, over and over again, be reviewing the past (like the main character in Groundhog Day).

We all act like Virgos during Mercury retro. There is little outward “mental efficiency”. Everyone’s (and everything’s) quietly hibernating. Mercury retrograde, occurring 3-4 times a year, arrives when we have taken in enough information since the last Mercury retro (when was that?) and now must reassess and review (reinterpret, rework, redo, etc.), in detail, agendas and decisions from the last three months. This includes what we have studied and learned. During Mercury retro we can organize our journals.

During Mercury retro plans go awry (make none and if you must watch them change or dissolve) and indecision is the rule. Ideas must be thought through carefully and cautiously but not implemented until the retro is over. Research is best. We are reminded to get things in order before the retro in order that during the retro we can complete and take care of things undone from the past. The past…events and people, even old lovers show up seeking completion, closure, or a dramatic replay of a previous situation. Uh, oh. Be strong everyone. And kind. Things are subtle. Even ghosts appear.

Read about the week’s Celestial Events and more at www.nightlightnews.com. And begin to capture the Light by standing, walking or sitting in the Light of the Sun 15 minutes each day.

ARIES: New information emerges concerning friends and the groups you participate in. You realize why you like (or don’t) your friend or group(s). You move forward into new dimensions with them or you move away. New goals and hopes occur, too, which include new ways to serve humanity because now you have a larger vision that encompasses world service. As our world shifts into the next dimension, you’ll be called to lead. Some ambitions you thought were gone reappear. These are what you will lead with.

TAURUS: Do take care of any and all previous business. Do realize that your public image is changing. From being behind the scenes and unnoticed to being poised in the midst of the changes occurring on a worldwide scale. Careful with communication in the public sector. You don’t want to be misunderstood. Be prepared for delays in everything. You already know not to sign contracts and to read the fine print. Everything old will soon pass away. You are preparing for this.

GEMINI: Amidst all the chatting you do out and about, internally you will assess your future path, what Truth is, the geography of your journey, it’s “ring-pass-not,” and perhaps some sort of ethical or philosophical dilemma. A source of Truth, pursued and then dropped long ago, reappears. What will you do now? Wait till the retro is over for clear communication with friends and partners. Pray with them instead. (You laugh?) And talk about community.

CANCER: Something occurred in your past, a death or a deep loss, that now needs to be tended to by your emotional body. A new reality needs to take the place of sadness. You will need to recreate your life, which changed after this incident. You can do this. Your life is not over. It is now bringing showing you new values, needs, and opportunities. You must go where you feel happiness. Prepare now.

LEO: A new and compassionate (Pisces) way of communicating with loved ones will appear and you will gladly absorb this into your heart and begin to act with care and kindness. You will remember that in the past and up till now your communication has been less than spectacular as you always placed yourself at the center. Insights and more insights follow you to the ends of the earth. From now on you are a more loving person. Others now come first as you begin to comprehend that it is yours to serve.

VIRGO: How is your heath? Is there a previous health situation needing tending or new information cast upon it? Don’t become overwhelmed with too much information. Research as you know is your best way of working with the retro whose planet is your own ruler. A new job or work may suddenly occur to you. Tend to the plant and animal kingdom tenderly.

LIBRA: There is a certain joy you used to have, either with someone or something, that you have allowed to fall away. Recapture this person, place, or situation, so you can regain your original enthusiasm (filled with God), fun and sense of play. You have many forms of creativity still in potential. Bringing them forth also brings forth in you a sense of nature, expresses your youthfulness and brings more coordination. Spend time with children and instruct them carefully.

SCORPIO: Your past as it concerns your home, parents, nourishment given, received, and how you view your family will arise and then change. This retro provides us with new perspectives, things unrealized before. Insights and impressions from childhood are altered and we somehow see everything in a clearer, more loving light. We realize our parents and family, no matter what the situations, served our growth. We reconnect with family, some through research. Love blooms where perhaps there were only misunderstandings.

SAGITTARIUS: Thoughts will occur over and over many times until you arrange them into a pattern of knowledge. You may be very quiet during the retro (unless you are Mercury retro at birth). You will see things other people don’t and find things other people didn’t know existed. After the retro you will explain what you experienced in comprehensive terms. Tend to siblings, walk the neighborhoods, draw maps, study dictionaries, and perhaps you’ll meet someone new in an unusual sort of way. Make no plans till after the retro.

CAPRICORN: Notice that you will review your values, look at your resources and assess their usefulness, quality, and purpose. Insights about how you truly see yourself will emerge. And things you thought lost, never to be found again, appear. Money takes on its own life coming in slowly then fast. If married or in a committed relationship, speak of joint resources and how to better them. Discuss your future, views, and aims. The future as we know it will be different than expected. Everyone’s being preparing for it. In order to serve.

AQUARIUS: Self image is the whole focus this entire Mercury retro. New information keeps being revealed about who you are (to yourself). You will re-think everything – your wants, needs, hopes, wishes, fears. You will perceive past situations in an entirely new way, realize you know quite a lot and begin to prepare yourself to share what you know is true. Being an Aquarian you come from the future and you know the state of our world. Flashes of insight will occur to you on how to prepare others.

PISCES: With the coming eclipses in Pisces (and Virgo) and the Mercury retro in Pisces (then Aquarius) there is much that will be leaving all Pisceans and a resultant sorrow will appear. No matter what is said about the past events and how they are good for you, there will still be sadness and feelings of loss. It is therefore good to have on hand the homeopath, Ignatia Amara. It soothes grief and loss. Expect also to not be understood much and to have thoughts and ideas that simply cannot express themselves. To be continued…